Powerful Opportunities for Women in Resources

Traditional and non-traditional STEM careers in the natural resource industries in Alaska are widely male-dominated with a perceived lack of female representation. This creates a major barrier of access that hinders females from entering these fields. In Alaska, the natural resource industries employ tens of thousands of people directly and indirectly in energy (oil and gas and renewables), mining, and fisheries. These jobs include anything from engineering, computer science, IT, biological science, and the myriad of trade jobs such as construction, mechanical, welding, electrical, etc. According to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, in 2019 only 2% of workers were women in oil and gas, 2% in construction, 16% in trade, and 24% in local or state government. Additionally, women represented 49% of the state’s workers in 2019 but received 40% of total wages. This creates an environment in which young, competent females ready to enter the workforce may be turned off by these occupations due to a lack of perceived role models, fear of sexism in the workplace, or because they are not exposed to these career opportunities at all.

On the industry side, Alaska is facing challenges such as an aging workforce and an outmigration of the state’s working age population. Looking ahead, 90% of job openings across all Alaska occupations through 2030 will come from separations, or people permanently leaving the workforce (Alaska Department of Labor, October 2022). This workforce shortage must be addressed by ensuring the next generation is willing and able to enter the workforce. Yet, the lack of education about the career opportunities in Alaska, especially opportunities within natural resources, creates a trend in which young people move out of state for perceived better or more abundant opportunities. Not only do they not understand that these careers are well-paying (triple the statewide average), but they also do not understand why working for resource industries in Alaska can be considered an environmentally-friendly job. 

References:

Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Trends, “The Gender Wage Gap”, October 2021 Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Trends, “Job Projections Through 2030”, October 2022

POWR is a program that exposes high school students who identify as female to careers and opportunities in the natural resource industries of Alaska. The intent of POWR is two-fold:

1. POWR addresses the male-stereotype of STEM careers in natural resources by connecting students with female career professionals in a wide variety of these fields to provide mentorship and career guidance. This creates an environment of female empowerment and increased self-confidence. It has been determined that these types of learning environments can have a significant positive effect on girls’ aspirations in STEM and a negative effect on gender stereotypes (González-Pérez, Mateos de Cabo, & Sáinz, 2020).

2. POWR explores the challenges and opportunities that exist in the link between natural resource development and environmental sustainability in Alaska. The students learn about all of Alaska’s natural resources, and analyze the pros and cons of each through life cycle assessment (extraction, transportation, use, re-use/disposal). They also learn about the natural resource industries in Alaska and their adherence to high environmental standards and regulations as compared to similar industries in other parts of the world. This learning occurs through hands-on, interactive activities and thought-provoking group discussions. The students then synthesize their knowledge and apply it in an innovation design challenge in which they must identify a problem regarding natural resources and sustainability and innovate a solution.

This program is designed to be an after-school program run 4 days a week for 7-9 weeks. Each week, students are exposed to a new topic in natural resources, engage in discussions and hands-on activities, and meet a female mentor in a related career field. The class culminates in the innovation design challenge, and students must present and “pitch” their solutions to a variety of stakeholders in natural resources.

The final component of POWR is a week-long field trip in which participating students travel across Alaska visiting natural resource sites and training facilities along the way. This field trip epitomizes the learning-into-practice model, allows for further networking opportunities, and exposes students to “next steps” such as universities or training facilities in Alaska. 

Reference:

Gonzalez, S., Mateos de Cabo, R., & Sáinz, M. (2020). Girls in STEM: Is it a female role model thing? SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3... 

POWR serves Alaska high school students identifying as female who:

1. Are unaware of the incredible career opportunities in natural resources in Alaska,

2. Do not believe they are fit or able to enter a workface perceived as male-dominated, and/or

3. Lack a post-secondary plan altogether and are in need of career guidance.

POWR is inclusive and allows for personal growth of all students who want to participate, regardless of sexual orientation, ethnicity, cultural background, or socio-economic status. The program begins with an assessment that gauges student knowledge, understanding, and interest in natural resources and associated careers in Alaska, as well as a personal assessment that measures STEM identity, thinking, and career aspirations. The students all complete the 16personalities online assessment, and the program lead uses this information to guide student learning throughout the program while providing career and postsecondary guidance.

The sustainable design project is meant to allow the students to engage in problem-based, student-led learning in which they can choose a problem/topic they are personally interested in or passionate about. Furthermore, this program has been run through the local school district within a program that offers students the opportunity to earn 0.5 elective science credit upon completion of the class. It is free for students to participate both in the class, as well as the field trip opportunity, thus removing financial barriers to access. Within the program, female mentors are chosen based on the population of the students enrolled in the program. The program lead strives to create a roster of female mentors who represent different career fields (traditional and non-traditional STEM) as well as those with diverse backgrounds. 

  Survey results from our 2023 POWR program in Anchorage show a 60% increase in students’ understanding of natural resource careers in Alaska, a 51% increase in understanding what a STEM job is, and an 18% increase in interest pursuing a career path in the natural resource industry. From a participant in our 2022 cohort: “The POWR class was hands-on and inspiring. It encouraged me to follow my passions and that anything you love can be a job. It also showed me just how incredible women are!”

Alaska Resource Education’s team is more than equipped to successfully deliver this program as we are well-positioned as a partner and liaison to both educational institutions and industry within the state of Alaska. The Anchorage School District has students who speak 99 different languages than English and has the top three most diverse high schools in the United States: Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School, West Anchorage High School, and Bartlett High School. Anchorage is unique in that it has large populations of Asians (the city ranks 25th in the nation for its number of Filipino residents), Pacific Islanders, and Alaska Natives. Being based in Anchorage gives ARE the advantage of reaching a more diverse student population. 

Our team has extensive experience working with K-12 students across Alaska, including underserved communities in urban and rural environments, with students from extremely diverse cultural backgrounds and ethnicities. The team has a sound understanding of student needs, industry needs, and gaps and challenges within the education system which we address through our diverse and innovative programming. Our unique position as a liaison between education and industry is a powerful asset for connecting students to a wide range of post-secondary opportunities.

For POWR, the team works closely with the local district to market and solicit students who are most likely to be impacted and will benefit most through participation in the program. Throughout and at the end of the program, we gather student participant feedback to make adjustments and improvements to the program for the next year. Our team is comprised of 100% women who have all worked in fields that are underrepresented by women in the natural resource industry. Our team collectively represents over 70 years of experience living in Alaska, working in STEM fields.

Alaska Resource Education taught over 12,000 students statewide in 2022. Year to date in 2023, our STEM educators have taught over 8,000 students (two additional staff were added mid 2022 and one additional educator is joining the team in June 2023). In 2022 and 2023, 40 girls participated in the POWR program in Anchorage and Juneau.

While we have successfully run this program twice in Anchorage, we understand that our impact on the target student population across Alaska is low. Our goal is to replicate and expand this program in other areas in Alaska, including both high-population urban (such as Fairbanks) and primarily Indigenous rural communities (of which there are 200+ across the state of Alaska). We believe that program expansion and adaptation is the key to growing the success and impact of POWR. With growth comes financial and logistical challenges regarding remote and rural travel as well as staff capacity for program delivery. Receiving this funding would address this problem so that we can continue to expand this program and provide opportunities for female students across Alaska. Most importantly, as we expand this program, we want to ensure we can continue to promote inclusivity by ensuring that all students, especially those from low-income and underserved rural communities, are able to participate free of charge. 

Ella is a lifelong Alaskan, born in Anchorage, who grew up in rural Alaska Indigenous communities. She has a special connection with rural Alaska communities and the unique challenges in education. She has worked in the natural resource industries, primarily as an environmental program manager and stakeholder engagement lead, prior to joining ARE in 2017. Through her leadership, ARE has grown from having one STEM educator in 2017 to five full-time STEM educators in 2023. Ella believes in providing access to STEM education for all students, regardless of race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, or economic status. 

POWR is innovative because it is, to-date, the only program of its kind that exists within the Alaska educational system. Alaska is a unique state with extraordinary challenges, especially when it comes to underrepresented and marginalized groups in STEM. This program addresses these challenges by inspiring and empowering students who identify as female to enter traditional and non-traditional STEM career fields in natural resources through an innovative and inclusive program design.

In the next year, our impact goals are to:

1. Increase student participation in the Anchorage POWR program by 33% from 2023.

2. Increase participation in students who attend a Title I school by 50% from 2023.

3. Increase student participation in Juneau POWR by 50% from 2023.

In the next 5 years, our impact goals are to:

1. Expand POWR to 1 additional urban community and 3 additional rural communities.

2. Ensure that POWR student ethnicity is within 5 percentage points of the ethnicity of the community that the program is serving.

We collect student data including number of participants, ethnicity, school, grade, and community. 

POWR directly addresses the need to increase female participation in STEM careers and dispel gender stereotypes by inspiring and empowering young women in Alaska to explore opportunities in the natural resource industries through interactive mentorship and innovate programming. It has been determined that these types of learning environments can have a significant positive effect on girls’ aspirations in STEM and a negative effect on gender stereotypes (González-Pérez, Mateos de Cabo, and Sainz, 2020).

Reference:     

Gonzalez, S., Mateos de Cabo, R., & Sáinz, M. (2020). Girls in STEM: Is it a female role model thing? SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3... 

Not applicable.

Alaska Resource Education has an executive director, an operations director, and five full-time STEM educators (four in Anchorage and one in Fairbanks). The STEM educators travel to rural Alaska communities to teach. During the summer, ARE employs two part-time summer interns (female high school students).

The POWR program was initially piloted in the spring of 2022. The program was further developed in the spring of 2023, in addition to a spring break camp version that was taught in Juneau, Alaska. Five students from the Juneau program will be traveling with the Anchorage students for the summer field trip at the end of June.

ARE’s curriculum explores Alaska’s natural resources through the lens of STEM. While STEM is typically regarded as “hard” for many students, ARE’s hands-on, interactive, and fun approach allows all students to be successful regardless of their background. According to the National Science Foundation, the STEM workforce is 89% white and 72% male. However, approximately 52% of students in Alaska schools are not white and about half of those are not male. Therefore, we need to take a different approach to teaching STEM so these students know they can have a role in our workforce.

Across Alaska there are thousands of high paying careers that most people do not know exist. Students in urban Alaska know about jobs at the local grocery store, retail, doctors, and teachers because that is what they see around town. Students in rural Alaska know of some jobs at the local store, a few at the local clinic, or hospital and possibly a few for the tribal or regional corporation. Most Alaskans, urban or rural, want to have a job that will pay enough to afford Alaska’s high cost of living, but also give them the flexibility to enjoy Alaska’s bounty through hunting, fishing, and recreation. What most students do not know is that there are major industries and their associated support service industries that pay over triple the statewide average and have an option to work a rotational schedule (e.g., two weeks on and two weeks off) right here in Alaska. These careers include entry level jobs for 18-year old’s directly out of high school all the way up to PhD-level engineers.

Many students across Alaska are underrepresented based on gender, ethnicity, or income. ARE works hard to ensure our programs are taught in schools and communities that increase our reach to these students. We have several programs and partnerships around the state that target these populations and help ensure they hear a different story and are empowered with the skills and knowledge to be successful in a career path they may not have known about or felt was “for them” before. Our POWR program provides a space for female students to learn from real women working in resource industries with the intention to break the stereotype that those jobs are “for the boys.” We also partner with Kusilvak Career Academy (KCA) in Anchorage to provide educational opportunities to Alaska Native students. KCA brings students from 11 Western Alaska communities to Anchorage. These include classroom visits, field trips and career focused training. We also partner with Title I schools to provide classroom visits, teaching materials, and training opportunities for teachers of low-income students. ARE education staff travel to rural communities across the state and offer remote learning opportunities including all required materials for our fun, interactive hands-on lessons. This allows students in every corner of Alaska to have similar educational opportunities to those based in urban hubs. During 2021-2023 ARE provided education for teachers and students in over 50 communities across Alaska. 

As an educational nonprofit, Alaska Resource Education provides curriculum to K-12 students statewide. Schools are facing decreased funding with less focus on STEM education. ARE supplements existing curriculum with hands-on, STEM based learning. Exposure to STEM provides students with the opportunity to learn about natural resource careers available post-secondary.

ARE is funded through private, state, and federal grants, corporate and individual donors, and fundraising events. Schools are not charged for the curriculum or our STEM educators’ time, eliminating financial barriers. Partnerships are formed with specific schools, school districts (there are 54 school districts in Alaska), and other nonprofit partners.

ARE STEM educators go directly into classrooms to teach the curriculum, through schools or special programs like POWR or other STEM camps. Especially following the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increased need for STEM education. Most students fell behind academically and are still struggling to catch up. Teachers are dealing with a lot of social and emotional learning challenges in addition to helping students get back on track. ARE’s STEM educators provide additional quality STEM curriculum through tactile learning. 

ARE was originally founded in Alaska in 1982 and has grown significantly over the past five years. ARE is financially stable due to long-term grants, corporate donors, and established fundraising events. Existing grantors include the U.S. Department of Energy, the State of Alaska Department of Education & Early Development, the Alaska Community Foundation, Battelle, and the Schmidt Foundation. Each of these grantors are long-term sustaining partners. 

ARE has grown from an annual budget of $302,000 in 2017 to a current annual budget of $1.4 million in 2023. Growth has been achieved through sustainable partnerships with long-term supporters. Corporate, private, state, and federal grants have provided diversified funding. The POWR program has been especially impactful and supported by numerous grants.